


Salvaged

by ScreechyDragoo



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst, Keebz being sad and dramatic, Late night drabble turned story?, M/M, Recovered Memories, slow start
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:07:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26196868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScreechyDragoo/pseuds/ScreechyDragoo
Summary: Unlike the other androids, apparently, K1-B0 had been happy. He had a job he enjoyed. He had a family(?) and friends who loved him. They didn't try to stamp out his emotions. Sure, the professor kept him from causing any harm, but it's not like he wanted to.He had everything. But the minute the other androids, the other prototypes Idabashi had been working on, showed some signs of revolt...It's okay to feel a little bitter about it, right?-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Drv3 Dystopian au where the killing game never happened, and Keebo is a survivor(?) of an Android revolution.
Relationships: K1-B0/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 38
Kudos: 81





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, so if you find it interesting, feedback would be greatly appreciated!! It should have a decent amount of angst, cuz dystopian. Also there's clear inspiration from DBH and Wall-E, and Keebz gets a laser gun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_**"** _ _**Please locate the nearest charging station. Power is at 15% capacity. Total shutdown in fourteen minutes. Please locate the nearest charging station."** _

The message glowed red in K1-B0's vision, accompanied by a cool metallic voice. It flashed for a moment, and with a twitch of a rusted finger, swooped out of his line of sight.

_How irritating._

It was going to be dark soon. The sun had already dipped away, despite the usual heavy clouds and fog that blocked it's rays. K1-B0 preferred sunlight over moonlight, despite them being practically the same thing. Sunlight is more positive-sounding, and the thought of that bright daytime star happily burning above helped the robot cope with the inevitable despair that comes with abandonment.

There's still a sliver of hope for rescue left in his mind, but each passing minute chipped a piece away. For too long, he'd sat here. Exposed to the elements. Left in the rain, sun, snow and fog. Gnawed on by vermin, poked at by birds, breached by bugs. Not even his heavy armor could protect him from hours upon hours of gradual abuse.

The broken android allowed himself a sigh. Even his wordless voice sounded croaky and damaged. It skipped a little near the end, too. How pathetic.

Despite the urgent need to follow his programming and search for help, K1-B0 sadly ignored it. What else could he do? Every tiny movement cost him power. And he couldn't afford to shut down. Not here. Not when he was this vulnerable.

But still. How long had he been here? How long had he sat in this alleyway, limbs frozen, armor rusting, joints ground to dust, left to rot for all eternity? Just how long?

K1-B0 twitched another finger, middle this time.

_**Thursday, October 4th, 7:56 pm, 20XX.** _

_I've been here for almost six weeks, then..._

The metal voice didn't accompany that message. He found himself grateful. Sometimes it got annoying.

K1-B0 turned his gaze to the alley in front of him. Perhaps the night breeze would give him a new distraction to scan. 

_**Scanning surroundings...** _

_**Creating digital map...** _

_**Please wait...** _

Nothing.

Just the same filthy pavement.

Same rotting dumpster.

Same grease patches.

Same rubber burns.

Same scattered trash, same rat skeleton, same cardboard sign predicting the end of the world, same detached antenna at his feet.

He looked to the left. 

_**Scanning surroundings...** _

_**Creating digital map...** _

_**Please wait...** _

Again, nothing.

Just the usual dark void. A wall of shadows, swallowing up the end of the alley, if there was one. Not even a speck of trash to examine, ignoring the obvious dirt and pebbles. K1-B0 tried to focus on the darkness.

_**Night scanners not operational.** _

That was the same, too.

He looked to the right. 

**_Scanning surroundings..._ **

**_Creating digital map..._ **

**_Please wait…_ **

Aaaand nothing.

Same empty street.

Same dusty old car.

Same crushed cat food can.

Same abandoned building, same dry sewer drain, same crumpled newspaper, same flickering lamp post.

He preferred the right side more. It offered light sometimes, when the sky was right. The lamp post was solar powered, after all. Light allowed him to rest easier. Gave him peace, offered a small moment of solitude, made things marginally better since that awful day.

Since the day they left him. His own kind. His own heartless, bloodless, soulless kind. Leaving him to die cold and alone. 

Not that he didn't have a choice. They wanted him to submit, to allow himself to be torn apart and rebuilt bigger and better than ever. To 'upgrade' him, if he remembered correctly. But that would mean losing himself. That would mean losing everything he'd seen, the relationships he'd built, the memories he'd made. 

So he'd declined, sacrificing his body for his life.

Their reaction had been instantaneous.

 _'Not that you could ever truly die,'_ They had said. _'Robots can be fixed and rebuilt, you'd just come back different than before. The old must become the new, after all.'_

But what was he to do if there was nobody around to fix him?

Nothing good could ever come from that _**[Redacted. Language not permitted.]** _revolution. Especially when the opponent had nuclear weapons and a leader with an itchy trigger finger.

Of course the 'revolution' failed. Of course the world went to _ **[Redacted. A warning has been issued]**_. Of course despair took over as quickly as it did. Of course both sides lost.

_**'Please locate the nearest charging station. Power is at 12% capacity. Total shutdown in eleven minutes. Please locate the nearest charging station.'** _

The voice broke his thoughts, clearing away the footage he'd semiconsciously pulled from his memory bank.

K1-B0 closed his eyes, flicking the message away again. The voice sounded a bit quieter now. That wasn't a good sign. Eleven minutes huh? Eleven minutes till he was gone?

_Sigh…_

Nobody expects to go out this way. To rot and fester in some _**[Redacted. Second warning issued.]** _alleyway surrounded by trash and dirt. And with nobody around to see. The loneliness, the robot found, was the worst part. Especially considering his past life. Before the revolution tore it all away.

Unlike the other androids, K1-B0 had been happy. He had a job he enjoyed. He had family(?) and friends who loved him. They didn't try to stamp out his emotions.

Sure, the professor kept him from causing any harm, but it's not like he wanted to. He had everything. But the minute the other androids, the other prototypes Idabashi has been working on, showed some signs of revolt...

It's okay to feel a little bitter about it, right?

K1-B0 tilted his head back with a deafening creak. Metal ground harshly against metal. The sound was horrible on his ears. Like a painful death cry. Surely someone would hear it, bouncing across the walls like an energized ping pong ball.

 _'Not as many clouds today.'_ He noted, staring upward. _'I might get some moonlight, or even see some stars.'_

If his battery didn't run out first. That was a glaring problem, especially for older models like himself. Once that battery reaches zero, everything else dies with it and the unfortunate owner has a lifeless husk to deal with. No more useful than a stringless puppet. How many minutes did he have left again?

_**'Please locate the nearest charging station. Power is at 11% capacity. Total shutdown in ten minutes-'** _

_Right._

K1-B0 didn't bother listening to the rest. He sent the message off for the third time, and stared up at the sky. 

Very slowly, the clouds dispersed.

Turns out luck was on his side today. He could actually see stars, as if the universe could read his thoughts. They were just as beautiful as he remembered, even through the usual grey haze. Tiny pinpricks of light, oblivious to the chaos down below. K1-B0 curled his middle finger inward to lightly tap a button on his wrist.

_Do you think it would be nice to live as a star?To have no enemies, no responsibilities, no threats to worry about? Just sitting up there among the others until you eventually burn out. All you would have to do is shine, y'know? Liked by all, hated by none._

_[.....]_

_Oh. Haha. Sorry. I'm rambling again..._

K1-B0 smiled to himself as the recording played, crackling quietly from a speaker near his chest. He couldn't remember who said those words, (he decided it had to be weather damage to his memory chip, or a glitch of some kind) but somehow that recording survived. He had to have listened to it a hundred times.

The person sounded kind, but unsure. And they definitely knew K1-B0. He himself never responded, though, the recording only seemed to pick up what mystery man (or woman, he couldn't be too sure) was saying.

_Okay, I have to go now. The professor would kill me if he caught me chatting with you again. Honestly, I don't think you deserve to be all locked up in here._

_[.....]_

_I'll be back, same time next week, alright?_

_[......]_

_No no, it's okay! Not your fault Idabashi is so paranoid. I personally don't believe in the whole 'robo takeover' thing. Everyone I know treats their androids like family._

_[.....]_

_Nothing bad is going to happen, trust me._

_[.....]_

_Hmm. You have a point._

_[......]_

_I do...have a question though._

_[......]_

_If it does end up happening, if robots really do revolt…_

_[......]_

_Can we still be-_

The sound of a truck rumbling up the street shattered his thoughts. The recording shut off mid-sentence. K1-B0 opened his eyes, turning his head slightly toward the noise. He tried to focus, pushing out his scanners as far as they would go.

_Combustion engine. Probably a pickup of some sort. Older model, red-yellow paint, no license plate, missing one window._

It wasn't too far down, judging by the noise. K1-B0 hoped it would drive by without stopping. Android or not, he'd rather shut down than be picked apart.

Sweeping the road with a cab-mounted spotlight, the pickup shakily rolled past like a beast sniffing out hidden prey. It drove far too slow for K1-B0's comfort. Even in darkness, he could see humanoid silhouettes moving about, just enough light for him to scan them.

_Four figures. One driver, one passenger, one in the bed of the truck, and one operating the light. All human, three males, one female._

The spotlight drifted over K1-B0's spot twice. He closed his eyes and let out an imaginary breath. _Too close…_

But then it snapped right back to him, flooding the alleyway with harsh white light, simultaneously nullifying his scanners.

_Great._

"Hey guys! We got a 'droid over here!" A female voice shouted. 

_**'Please locate the nearest charging station. Power is at 10% capacity. Total shutdown in nine minutes. Please locate the nearest charging station.'** _

The truck screeched to a halt. His ears picked up the sound of footsteps. 

Judging by the faint silhouettes, two of the four figures must've hopped out.

K1-B0 watched helplessly as they drew nearer, raw fear twisting his metal innards. Definitely human. A small part of him was grateful they showed up. Humans liked to fix things. Maybe they would fix him and let him go with a pat on the back, no strings attached.

But he shouldn't get his hopes up. They would most likely use him for spare parts. Scavengers tended to be like that. K1-B0 internally shuddered at the image of those faceless beasts ripping open his armor and yanking out wires with reckless abandon. 

_At least, that's how the others described it..._

_**'Please locate the nearest charging station. Power is at 9% capacity. Eight minutes until total shutdown. Please locate the nearest charging station. Please locate the nearest charging station.'** _

He felt two pairs of strong arms pull him up, one hooking under his arms, the other grabbing at his legs. The robot's limbs protested horribly, creaking, squealing and scraping with each tiny movement. K1-B0 felt his face press into sweat-soaked fabric, as the humans heaved him from a sitting position. 

He could try and fight them. Humans were notoriously fragile sometimes. His cannon seemed to be functional, even with such a low battery. According to his calculations, he had just enough power for one shot. One good shot to blow up the truck and send the humans packing, like the unpredictable rats they are. They would drop him, and he'd go right back to his loneliness.

Jumbled voices spoke above his head, fading in and out, similar to an old radio trying to get a signal. Something small and hard fell from his body, clattering dully against the asphalt.

No use. Even if K1-B0 managed to hit his target, humans weren't rats. Not even close. They'd leave for a second, but then come crawling back to haul him off another day.

"Jesus….is gu…..eavy.."

"....me on, it's almo…...ut of pow…."

"Thi….e can get parts…...om it?'

"Shut up, I wa………..ep it all......elf, he won't lay a fi……...em….."

"Isn't that da…...ous?"

"I sa…..quiet!!"

"Oka….you can ke….t."

"....od, that's a lo…..ust…."

"How the he…..is thi…...alive?"

_**'Please locate the nearest charging station immediately. Power is at 7% capacity. Total shutdown in six minutes. Please locate the nearest charging station immediately. Please locate the nearest charging station immediately.'** _

Funny. His internal voice sounded much louder this time. Perhaps it had spoken aloud? 

The humans burst into panicked arguing, picking up speed while they struggled to drag his heavy body outside. The shouting sounded muffled, as though K1-B0 were sitting underwater. His ears must be dying.

The robot shuddered again. At least his death would be useful. The others could have been lying. Being pried open and harvested for parts might even feel better than the slow, uncomfortable spider-legs feeling that coursed through his circuits. Like a thousand bugs scuttling under his armor, sucking out life as they closed in on his head. _What a depressing thought..._

Then again, there was a small chance of the humans _not_ using him for parts. They seemed to be handling him rather gently for scavengers, even if his solid metal body gave them difficulties. Perhaps they would fix him like he initially hoped. K1-B0 would have to just wait and see.

A leg fell from the human's grip, colliding with the ground so hard, he felt it might fall off. The resulting noise grated at everyone's ears, but they still pressed on.

_Not so careful at all, I suppose._

The two kidnappers, now accompanied by a third, loudly dumped him into the bed of their truck. Stiff and practically lifeless, K1-B0 watched one climb in after him, signalling to the driver with a whistle. The male human sat down next to him, sighing heavily as the truck lurched forward.

_**'Please locate the nearest charging station immediately. Power is at 6% capacity. Total shutdown in five minutes-'** _

The human interrupted K1-B0's metal voice with a groan. They said something about long nights and lucky breaks, before smacking something on the back of the robot's head. His vision dimmed, and for the rest of the ride, fell into a fog-filled stupor.


	2. The Part Where K1-B0 Get Increasingly Annoyed At The Use Of Tasers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More characters are introduced, and Keebz makes some interesting discoveries :}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bada bing bada boom, ya girl is bAck with [drumroll please] chaaaapter twoooo!! 
> 
> ....
> 
> Okay Ima stop there, yall get the idea. This was the part that turned a 3am drabble into a story with a heckin plOt and UniVersE. 
> 
> Major language warning, since Miu and Kokichi make an appearance and we all know how they are when stuck in a room together :}

The first thing K1-B0 saw when he came to was a pair of eyes.

Two brilliant golden eyes, surrounded by a dense white fog. Now, normally, one would panic when faced with a pair of floating disembodied human eyes. Especially ones who happened to be staring right at you, analyzing every nook and cranny. But, compared to the other **[Redacted. Final warning.]** he'd gone through, the robot found this experience rather tame. 

The floating eyes could easily be part of a pre-programmed hallucination. He'd heard about those, from other androids who'd supposedly experienced the robotic equivalent of 'death' and remembered. 

According to them, humans had put a special chip inside every android, a small company-assigned gift. Once that android dies, the chip would offer the resident AI a temporary dreamlike escape. One last fling before shutting down forever, the AI going right back to its maker to be recycled.

There was no evidence to back this up though, K1-B0 had run several diagnostics and found no such thing. 

But even if he was dead and/or dying, the eyes could stay, as bizarre as they were. Perhaps it was just nice knowing he wasn't alone in the void. K1-B0 smiled to himself.

_Now just who might you be?_

The eyes blinked, clearly taken aback by something. Perhaps they didn't expect him to notice their presence. He blinked back, plastic eyelids clicking quietly in the silence. The eyes widened, fear clouding their gaze like a storm. His widened back. 

Then those calming hues hastily dissolved into the fog, earning a frown from the tired robot. 

_Great. I scared them off. Now what?_

Thennn the memory of his kidnapping decided to worm its way _right back_ into his mind. Every horrible detail in full HD, fresh from the memory bank.

Right. He had been stolen by humans. And they were probably here, watching him.

Scratch that, they were definitely watching him. Humans are nosy creatures, they probably had orchestrated everything. They probably programmed this hallucination. They probably tried to trigger his 'death chip' (if it existed) just to see what would happen. They're probably trying to get information from him while he sat here, floating aimlessly in an imaginary void. Trying to crack open his head and let the information they were looking for spill out.

_Unfortunately, I have nothing that would be of use to them. Unless they want to know how to properly sort books by color. Hehehe._

"Uhm... I think…….I think it's awake."

A quiet voice broke through his thoughts, shattering the silence and startling the robot a bit. Although it sounded distant. Like they were speaking from far away.

**_Male voice, near silent. Nervous tone suggests introvertedness and hesitancy._ **

Ignoring his inner voice, K1-B0 wondered if he was the only one here, aside from the gold eyes and quiet voice. They had to be talking to someone, right? Maybe the eyes and voice were two different people. Just two obstacles to block his escape. Hopefully the humans actually were _that_ stupid.

"Really!? Hell yeah, move out of the way!! I gotta talk to it first!!"

Apparently not.

**_Male voice, louder and more harsh on the ears. Loud, childish tone suggests little acknowledgement of rules and recklessness._ **

Another pair of eyes, this time purple, leaned in far too close. K1-B0 stiffened. They looked extremely excited, mischievous even, and absolutely _sparkled_ in the haze. Funny thing is, he still saw no face. Just human eyes and white smoke.

Actually, come to think of it, they must've installed a Scan-Blocker for there to be such a dense void. Not a pre-death hallucination. It would also explain his inability to move.

Those little chips, specifically designed to keep an android from scanning anything or moving, were only used on dangerous, malfunctioning bots. Once under the effects, most newer models would simply go into low-power mode. Alive but vulnerable. Then the issue could be fixed without the android ever waking up. A very efficient and effective invention on the humans behalf, he had to admit. 

Did the golden eyes think he was dangerous? K1-B0 decided to stay still for the time being, since his older design allowed the robot to rather easily fight it off. Best not send the humans into a frenzy though. They haven't done any _real_ damage yet, as far as he could tell.

"Sooo-o, how ya doin Keyboy? You feeling murderous today? What's your body count? I'll bet it's in the hundreds!!" The purple eyes chirped. "C'mon, you can tell me! How much blood is on your hands?"

K1-B0 snapped back to reality. Right. Purple eyes was talking to him, in a tone he didn't really like. What'd he say again? Something about bodies?

Someone lazily knocked on his forehead, dense metal and plastic echoing slightly.

"Hellooooo? Anyone alive in there? Or are you really just dead?"

Again, K1-B0 said nothing. Purple eyes made a 'hmph!' sound, moving back a little.

"Jeez, I thought you'd be feelin all hyper and refreshed, since the slut had you charging all night."

Refreshed? Heck no, if anything, he felt even more exhausted than before. Whoever plugged him in didn't remove the wires for some time, a rookie mistake. Overloading android batteries usually had negative effects. And did Purple say Keyboy earlier? Is that a nickname? They don't know him and he doesn't know them, so how..?

Purple eyes dimmed slightly.

"Come ooooon, talk to me ya stupid roomba!! Miu didn't spend all night working for me to _not_ get a response! I wanna know what Mr Evil Robot has to say! Saihara-chaaaan, you lied to me!!"

_Might as well humor them…_

He tried to open his mouth to speak, but his jaw locked and all that came out was a strange noise, like a nail being scraped on a plate. The eyes recoiled, narrowing in displeasure.

"What the hell was _that!?_ "

Golden eyes returned, and based on what he could make out, the purple had been pushed aside. 

"Miu hasn't gotten to its voice box yet, Kokichi. I've told you before, you can't talk to it until she's done."

"Aw, you're no fun! Just wanted to say hi before it gets buzzed!! Y'know, leave a good first impression?"

"Right…"

Purple eyes leaned back over to him, crinkled mischievously. "I'll talk to _you_ later, Keyboy~"

The gold eyes gave him a tired look as the robot relaxed, stiff joints clicking back into place. He had a feeling purple eyes wouldn't be gone for long.

"Sorry about Kokichi. Someone must've left the soda out again. And, well, he's a bit.....eager....when it comes to androids. You're probably the first one that hasn't tried to strangle him immediately…" Gold murmured, looking him over, still somewhat muddled with worry. Like the nice eyes expected him to stand up and tear them out of their sockets. 

"Although I bet you're thinking about it…..can't be too sure these days. The last time we had an android, it almost killed everyone..."

Well _that_ explained some things for sure.

K1-B0 opened his mouth to protest, to ask what was going on, to tell those eyes _he wasn't one of them_ -

Before the massive _**'**_ ** _SLAM'_ ** of a metal door interrupted him. Fast footsteps ( _leather boots, high heeled, metal buckles and lace, well-worn)_ echoed on the presumably concrete floor, before something sharp and painful jabbed itself into his side, accompanied by a shout of _'SAIHARA_.'

A sharp metallic squeal escaped his voice box, and he felt his body go unpleasantly numb, paralyzed from the neck down. To call it weird was an understatement.

**_Model 15 stun stick, altered for unknown reasons. Reserved for unruly androids of the K1, L2, M3, and N4 classification, due to their armored bodies. The Model 15 SS is not manufactured by Danganronpa Robotics, nor is it licenced for use on Danganronpa Robotics Androids. Please exercise caution._ **

" _What_ did I say about talking to it? He coulda been scannin you the whole time!! You want a fuckin K1-model android to know who you are?!" A snappy female voice shouted from somewhere to his left. He recognized it from the car, the same voice who'd spotted his metal corpse in the alley. "If this thing said anything, I wanna know what and I wanna know _now_."

**_Female voice, loud and brash. Constant use of vulgar language and sharp tone suggests loud arrogance. Caution recommended._ **

The golden eyes fully vanished again, much to K1-B0's dismay.

"S-sorry, Iruma…."

"Damn right you should be sorry!! Leanin over a goddamn android like that….These bots are fuckin' assembly-line _killers_ for fuck's sake!! What if it fought off the blocker chip and stood up!? You'd be dead within a _HEARTBEAT._ "

"B-but aren't you going to wipe its memory anyway..? It wouldn't matter if it learned anything…and that chip should work. _You_ made it after all…"

"W-well of _course_ it _works_. You said it yourself, _I_ made it. But _still_ it could learn based off what you're _telling_ it so fuckin _shut up_ and _move over here._ "

More footsteps, from two people this time. Although he couldn't see it, the robot's internal scanners (or instincts, as humans put it) said that the pretty eyes were looking at him. He put up a small smile, a feeble attempt to seem friendly. Someone inhaled sharply.

"Listen I only called you here for some of that big-brainy detective evaluation. Kaito called the Kuzuryus, so they're coming over in two days to look at the new merchandise. I wanna know if this guy is worth fully fixing, capishe?"

"Okay..?"

"And I can't fuckin _do that_ if our detective has a goddamn _hole_ in his _crainum!!"_

"...b-but i-it looks pretty….calm?...to me?" The quiet voice tried, almost silent. "I don't think it's going to hurt anyone."

"And your reasoning for that?"

"Uh…"

The quiet voice paused for some time.

One of the voices clicked their tongue in disappointment.

"Can't even say? Jeez, your detective skills need touching up, Shithara. You've spent too much time crammed down here. _"_

"W-well, it didn't attack Kokichi when he said hello this time…"

"Wait, that little abortion spoke to it too!?"

"I called first dibs yesterday, Pig-ruma, try to keep up with the program!!" The purple eyes piped up from the somewhere to K1-B0's far right. "Buuut I doubt you can, with your brain so lubed up. It probably slips out your ears while you sleep!!"

"G-guys-"

"Oh you can shut the _fuck_ up, or I'll reprogram that bot to ram your gay ass till you _bleed."_

"Iruma!!"

"Jeez, who tied your tits a knot? No need to get so touchy!"

"You'd be fucking 'touchy' if you stayed up all night _working_ with nothing but a fucking _killer_ _robot_ as _company!!"_

"Meh, I doubt it, you probably just got some bad anal last night. Besides, robots don't even _have_ dicks!"

"..at least I don't think they do. Do they have dicks, miss heel-hog?"

"I don't _know_ but i can _make_ one if you don't fucking-"

"M-Miu, Kokichi, b-both of you, _please_!!"

An annoyed sigh, followed by a childish giggle from presumably purple eyes.

"Saihara, listen, I've seen what these guys do. One tiny slip-up and we'd all be on the floor, heads blown to fucking smithereens." The female voice snapped, suddenly serious. "They all get goddamn laser cannons _standard issue._ You want this bot to walk around helter-skelter like Rantaro on a tuesday afternoon? "

"N-no…?"

"My point exactly. On that note, I think this guy could be useful for-"

"Wait, Keyboy has a _laser cannon!?"_ Purple interrupted again. "Awesome!! A liiiittle less cooler than a rocket fist, but still awesome!!"

" _Yes_ it has a laser cannon, and it'll use it on you if you don't fucking _can it-"_

Now, this had to be the strangest crowd K1-B0's ever been around. Humans tended to fight amongst themselves all the time, it's in their nature, but these ones seemingly _thrived_ in chaos, Purple eyes especially. Purple and the Female must have fought many times before, for an argument to have started up this fast. Gold eyes didn't seem happy with any of it, which K1-B0 completely understood. Whenever humans bickered and fought, he never found it fun to watch, even if the arguments were staged.

_But I might as well take advantage of their distraction..._

While the humans battled for intellectual dominance, he quietly ran a full-body diagnostic to find where the Scan-Blocker had been installed. A loading bar blinked to life in the top right corner of his vision, moving along about as fast as a drugged snail on glue. 

This would take a while.

Of the millions of circuits, jacks, and ports on his body, that chip could be literally anywhere. In the meantime, K1-B0 decided to try and identify his kidnappers. Another good reason to ignore the fighting.

He tried a quick Tooble search of the names 'Miu Iruma', 'Kokichi', and 'Saihara', hoping that wherever the humans lived had decent internet reception. Thankfully, there was a signal, and the names generated some answers.

The one called 'Miu' was apparently well known in the robotics community, so she clearly knew quite a bit about androids. In fact, according to the internet, she assisted greatly in the creation and manufacture of the old A1 and B1 models, even helping Danganronpa Robotics with the newer, sleeker M4 and O4s. Very interesting.

Although in recent years, it seemed Miu had undergone some financial trouble for investing in thoroughly useless inventions. Not the smartest choice from a supposed genius.

K1-B0 filed Miu Iruma's name under 'Possible threat' anyway.

The name 'Kokichi' brought up a lot of results as well, mostly mugshots and news articles. One story showed a short, pale boy with spiky downturned hair and mischievous purple eyes. He loosely held up an identification card, flashing an evil smirk at the camera.

According to the article, he'd been caught vandalizing a state building and had stolen ten crates of grape soda from a gas station, before escaping less than an _hour_ after the initial arrest. The police only had enough time to take the mugshots.

K1-B0 knew this had to be Purple Eyes. The tone of voice and looks matched almost perfectly. So Ouma was a criminal, and a good one at that. Of course he'd be hanging around with these scavengers. 

K1-B0 filed Kokichi Ouma's name under 'Possible threat'.

Now, the name 'Saihara' brought up some very, very interesting results.

Aside from the staggering amount of fans and websites dedicated to documenting his every move, everything seemed to scream about a fairly recent event involving the poor guy. News articles, podcasts, Crewtube videos, blog essays, each having one thing in common:

**_Disgraced Detective sides with Killer Android_ **

**_Has the famous Shuichi Saihara lost his touch? Click to find out!_ **

**_World-Famous Investigator Shuichi Saihara fired- Android murderer walks free_ **

**_You won't believe what Shuichi Saihara did last Sunday!_ **

**_Has Danganronpa Robotics gone too far? Anti-android activist Tsumugi Shirogane speaks out against arming our automated allies._ **

**_Danganronpa Robotics releases statement addressing the Cafe Hanabi Murders, "We had nothing to do with it."_ **

**_Learn more about the android responsible for the death of five people at local restaurant Cafe Hanabi._ **

**_Famous Detective Shuichi Saihara missing, world-wide fans in a frenzy- "He must have flown the coop."_ **

**_Judge rules dangerous android 'not guilty' of Cafe Hanabi Murders- is Detective Saihara to blame?_ **

So 'Saihara' was a detective. To be called World-Famous, K1-B0 assumed he had to be a good one. But all the articles talking about his success were overshadowed by the ones talking about his most recent failure. 'His last case', they called it. How sad.

K1-B0 decided Saihara wouldn't be much of a danger based off of his pictures alone. Tall, skinny, pale, and probably has the average strength of a wet noodle. 

K1-B0 filed Shuichi Saihara's name under 'Minor threat'.

Although something about this Shuichi Saihara seemed familiar. It was on the tip of his non-existent tongue, he just couldn't name it. K1-B0 would have to keep an eye on Saihara until he remembered.

If he survives what they had planned for him, of course.

"Guys, can we get back on track? Please? You're giving me a headache..?"

"You're no fun, Saihara-chan."

"I try."

"Oh so _you're_ the one with the fucking headache here?"

"...Miu, earlier you mentioned something about the android being useful to us?"

"Eh? Oh, right, I was going to say something. Before I got so _rudely in-ter-up-ted."_

Miu cleared her throat, ignoring a blown raspberry from Kokichi. 

"See, I was thinking that since K1 models were made for combat and taking orders, we could fix it up, wipe its memory, and _possibly_ reprogram that hunk of junk to work for us. Y'know, instead of just selling the whole thing? There's probably tons of juicy information in that thing's head the Kuzuryus might find interesti-"

"Do-dont."

The room instantly fell silent. K1-B0 didn't know why he decided to try and talk now, when the diagnostic was still running. It seemed close though, the bar had loaded about 81% of the way.

_At least my words sounded somewhat understandable..._

K1-B0 could feel many pairs of eyes staring at him, boring holes through his metal skin. Not even the gentle ambiance of breathing and idle human shuffling could be heard. K1-B0 cleared his non-existent throat to try again.

"Please don-dont wipe my memories-ies." He muttered, still annoyed at the skip. "I worked-erked hard t-to-to keep them-em."

No response. Not like he expected one. Just more uncomfortable silence. 

Someone coughed. The fog swirled quietly. K1-B0 started to get worried. Maybe speaking out was a bad idea. The bar read 89%.

".....hoooly shit."

"T-told you it was awake."

93%.

"And it can suddenly _speak_ now!? How come it didn't talk to _me_ !? That is _so_ not fair!!"

"Ohhhhh my god oh my god oh my god its actually _awake-"_

"Hey Keyboy!! Why didn't you talk to me? Why'd you talk to the bitchlet instead?? That's so _rude!!"_

_"Who the fuck moved my taser!?"_

"It was Shuichi, I saw him do it!!"

"...!?"

96%. Speaking definitely turned out to be a bad idea.

"Cokichi, I swear if you hid my fucking equipment again-"

"Whaaaat? Why would I do such a _terrible_ thing? Honestly Miu, I'm offended!"

"You've done this shit _seventeen_ _times_ within the past _week!!!"_

"S-seriously Kokichi, we need Iruma's taser right now."

Someone, presumably Kokichi, sniffled as loudly and dramatically as possible.

"Oh fucking hell don't start that shit up again, ya stupid twink!!"

"Kokichi d-don't start crying _now_ of all places-"

"BWAAAAAAAA-HAAAAAA, ALL OF YOU ARE SO MEEEEE-HEE-HEEANNNN-"

"...someone shoot me please….."

_"Fuck it I'm using the stun stick instead."_

**_Diagnostic complete. Scan-Blocker ejected._ **

Something cold, hard and pointed jammed itself into K1-B0'S neck, right in a sensitive spot. A loud _snap,_ followed by another sudden jolt of pain and a squeak from the bot, and he was out ( _again)_ before he could even blink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOOOO boy this chapter was a doozy to write-
> 
> I really hope I was able to stay in character for the others since I absolutely love each and every one of them. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated and I would really like some!!
> 
> But yeah, hope you enjoyed, and we shall meet again once I figure out what the heck ima do in the next part (or in the comments if you make one). Thx for readingggggg :}}}}


	3. In which many annoying, terrifying, and downright odd things happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keebo wakes up again, only this time he's alone and without many restraints.
> 
> Slight language and robot gore warning, and this chapter is going to be a bit long, I'm trying my best here-

Once again, K1-B0 awoke scared and confused, as well as horribly sore. The robot was beginning to see a pattern here, and he did not like it one bit.

_Gad, why did they have to use STUN STICKS of all things..._

But this time, he found himself a bit more energized.

He could hear, he could see, his scanners were finally up and running again, ready to fill his head with unnecessary knowledge. And the fog had finally lifted.

_**Scanning surroundings...** _

_**Creating digital map...** _

_**Please wait...** _

At the moment, the android was lying on his back, very poorly strapped to an operation table. Flimsy metal cuffs bound his hands and feet to the sides, and an overhead lamp hung just above his face, presumably so that whoever messed with him could work all night and day. A rather embarrassing position, but he could deal.

K1-B0 sat up, the restraints snapping off easily. He flexed his arms, then his fingers, and then made a failed attempt to move his legs. None of them (surprisingly) screeched like a dying animal. The Miu character must've replaced his joints, and for that, he was only slightly thankful. Slightly.

But his legs didn't budge. No matter how hard he tried, how hard he willed them to bend, they refused. They couldn't. They just sat there. About as useful as a screen door on a submarine. 

_Yet another obstacle…_

One other thing that stood out to him was his armor. It was, well......

It was gone. No armor. Just the black rubber and plastic undersuit. Even that looked remarkably clean and new, even having that fine layer of white dust all rubber products seem to come with. A very different feel from the rotten, falling-apart version he'd been stuck with for the past month.

And that meant Miu had completely undressed him, both armor and skin, and stuck her grubby little human fingers all over the robot's exposed inner workings.

K1-B0 shuddered. An astonishing invasion of privacy. Had she no shame? Sure, she replaced the suit and clearly fixed a lot of broken parts, but really? Whatever happened to consent…?

_I suppose she didn't think she had to ask, with me being an android and all. Hmph._

The robot quickly pushed those thoughts away. He decided to test some things, and turned his scanners onto Night mode.

_**Night vision scanners not operational.** _

That's understandable. At least they still worked normally.

The worktable itself held considerable amounts of rust, it was a wonder it could even hold his weight. The lamp was cracked nearly all the way through, but still held a bulb. K1-B0 looked around for a switch, but found nothing.

As for the rest of the room? It was all dim light from a single floor lamp, walls and floors of thick grey concrete, and one heavy steel door serving as both entrance and exit.

A couch in the corner, a small folding table in front of it, and a few broken wood chairs. Oh, and boxes everywhere. On the walls, in the corners, smack dab in the middle of the floor, just piles of boxes everywhere. This room must be either the workshop of a very messy person, or a repurposed storage unit, based on all the clutter.

K1-B0 squinted, his scanners struggling to make out the darker shapes. A second worktable to his left, a few tools scattered around, some overflowing washing machines by the door...

And a decapitated android slumped next to him.

K1-B0 shrieked and tumbled off the table, easily ripping the remaining cuffs from their chains. Will it ever be possible for him to go a day without finding something new and terrifying?

Horrified, he clumsily tried to scramble to his feet, failed, and ended up crawling away as fast as his arms would let him. Trying to put as much distance between them as he could. The robot came very close to screaming. Very, very close. Like, hair-thin distance.

K1-B0's back hit a box pile, and he took that moment to calm down.

_Think about happy things. What makes you happy? You had that scarf once, it was nice...but it burned up during that one explosion..... But what about those funny glasses? But the professor took those away a while back..._

Ignoring all the things telling him _not to_ because _you will get CAUGHT-,_ he instinctively tapped the button on his wrist.

…..

No sound. 

His speaker didn't even offer static. 

Just complete silence.

K1-B0 tapped the button again. Nothing. 

He pressed it again. Still nothing.

Why wasn't it working?

He outright jammed it several times in a row.

Absolutely no response.

It was almost as if…

K1-B0 frantically patted himself down, and when he reached his chest, his hand met a dip. A spot that caved under pressure. A dip in his rubber skin, where something big and round clearly used to be.

_As if it had been removed._

"Oh no." He heard himself say. "Oh no oh no oh no oh n-no no n-no n-n-no-"

First, they tased him. Not once, not twice, but three times, before asking him ridiculous questions. Second, they completely undressed him without his consent, and probably poked around many places they shouldn't have. And THIRD-

They took his speaker. They took his recording. They took the one thing he had left from his past life. The one thing that gave him comfort, as….creepy...as that may sound.

_O-okay, so calming down isn't an option…_

_Maybe I can get some information from this place? That's a good distraction, right?_

Worried but still somewhat curious, he tentatively pulled away from the wall. Dragging himself forward as quietly as he could, like a zombie from those horror movies the professor sometimes put on for him. His scanners were fixed on that broken bot, and once they stuck to something, they never let go until all information was processed. K1-B0 found he hated that part of himself.

_**Scanning…** _

_Oh come on don't scan it, please-_

_**Model N4-P4, female build. Nickname 'Napa'. Status: Deactivated.** _

_Dangit. I should have turned those [ **Redacted** ] things off._

Sympathy and dread scratched at K1-B0's mind. He felt sick. Never in his life had he seen such damage on an android other than himself.

Didn't matter if his scanners acted on their own, even in the near-darkness he could see enough. The other android was torn to shreds.

Napa's chest cavity had been ripped wide open, with wires and twisted plastic spilling out similar to fruit from a cornucopia. Her rusted ribcage sat crooked and bent open, metal claws jabbing from plastic guts, sawed in half and peeled aside so whoever did this could get to the juicy parts. And those 'juicy parts' didn't seem to exist anymore. All of her motherboards, chips, engines, batteries, pistons, everything important was missing.

As for the head, it was completely gone, and both arms had been very roughly sawed off and taken away. The poor girl didn't even have any armor left. She just sat there against the wall, as naked as an android could get. All smooth joints, exposed wires, and plastic skin. Just like him, minus the wires.

No arms meant no weapons. Whoever mutilated Napa had taken her Plasma cannon and likely repurposed it to be used by human hands. Definitely not good.

No head meant no AI and no Scanners. When done right, android scanners could be remade into a powerful security system. Instant facial recognition, data retrieval, threat assessment, and mapmaking all stored in a processor the size of a thumbnail. 

And that's another obstacle in the path of escape. The list was growing and he really didn't like that.

K1-B0 looked around the room, deliberately turning off his scanners in case something else unpleasant hid among the garbage. His eyes fell on an old beige sheet tucked away under the worktable. 

Dragging himself toward it as quietly as possible, he snagged the sheet on a finger and moved back to where Napa lay. Mumbling an apology, he tossed the sheet over her, making sure every gorey detail was hidden. Not the best sendoff, but considering the circumstances, it would have to do.

K1-B0 inched away from Napa, switching his scanners back on.

Only he wished he didn't the second the first name popped up.

_**Model I7-M1, female build. Nickname 'Impa'. Status: Deactivated.** _

_**Model K1-T6, male build. Nickname 'Kit'. Status: Deactivated.** _

_**Model A8-K2, female build, nickname 'Aki'. Status: Deactivated.** _

_What..?_

_**Model O4-R5, male build. Nickname 'Oscar'. Status: Deactivated.** _

_**Model B4-T9, male build, nickname 'Baxter'. Status: Deactivated.** _

_**Model S3-M0, female build, nickname 'Shimetta'. Status: Deactivated.** _

_How many-_

_**Model M4-X3, female build. Nickname 'Maxie'. Status: Deactivated.** _

_**Model A6-V1, male build, nickname 'Atsushi'. Status: Deactivated.** _

_**Model C2-V2, male build. Nickname 'Serven'. Status: Deactivated.** _

_**Model K1-K7, gender non-specified. Nickname 'Ikari'. Status: Deactivated.** _

_No no no NO!! NO!!_

_**Model N4-O8, gender non-specified. Nickname 'Nakazo'. Status: Deactivated.** _

_**Model T5-T4, male build. Nickname 'Titus'. Status: Deactivated.** _

_**Model F1-N0, female build-** _

_Stop!! STOP!!_

Names and numbers flooded K1-B0's scanners as he struggled to stay upright. Turning around over and over, only to be blasted with new information as his stupid scanners picked up more. They just kept coming and coming, tons of identities piled on top of each other.

If his eyes weren't lying right now, hundreds of other androids like Napa rested all around him. Hundreds of greyed-out names floating above the mess, like incomplete side quests in a dungeon crawler.

Broken, beaten, gone.

Reduced to nothing useful, just spare parts to be tinkered with. Shoved into tiny boxes simply labeled 'Scrap' in black sharpie.

There weren't enough sheets to cover any of this.

If K1-B0 could cry, he'd be wailing. Well, he might actually be wailing right now, but honestly, who can tell at this point? The robot could only hear his cold inner voice, rattling off names like an auctioneer taking attendance.

K1-B0 steadied himself, trying not to topple over and make any more racket. First things first.

He quietly ran another full-body diagnostic just to see what was wrong with his legs.

_**Diagnostic start.** _

_**Running…** _

_**46%...** _

_**61%...** _

_**85%...** _

_**99%...** _

_Bink!_

_**Diagnostic complete.** _

_That was fast._

_**-Lower Motor functions disconnected.** _

_**-Central power cable disconnected from Lower Motor appendages.** _

_**-No signal from Lower Motor processor.** _

_**-A/V playback functions not responding.** _

_**-A/V recording functions not responding.** _

_**-A/V storage functions not responding.** _

_**-Central communication processor not responding.** _

_**Professional repair strongly recommended.** _

_No **[Redacted.],** of course professional repair is recommended!!_

No use. He would have to wait until the humans came back before he could do anything about his almost complete lack of movement.

_Okay...calm down….focus. What DO you have?_

He flexed his right arm, where his only weapon lie, half-concealed by black rubber. Model K1-Exclusive Plasma Rifle, fifteen shots before reload. Built to burn flesh and bust steel. Ideal for bodyguards and soldiers. 

_Not exactly ideal for androids like me, but whatever._

Normally, he'd have no problem blasting his way out, but he didn't know how many humans stood outside that steel door. There could be thousands. 

_'A nest of rats scrabbling about, stealing everything they could get their grubby little paws on,'_ one of the revolutionaries had said, hate plastered over their plastic face. _'Kill one, and five more would take its place.'_

But....well...he didn't like to hurt humans. K1-B0 actually hated violence. He didn't like blood at all. K1-B0 was what most would call 'squeamish' around those kinds of things. 

The robot found he was rather fond of his fleshy creators, to be honest. Envious, even. 

The professor always seemed to treat him well. And the human from the recording, they acted like a very good friend, talking to him like an equal. He used to have visitors, and they were always nice to have around.

In fact, before the 'revolution' (if he can even call it that) most humans he met were nice. Curious little beings of flesh and blood who were so bored with what they already had, they strived to make extraordinary things. Like him. Like the others.

Completely different from the other, bloodthirsty humans he'd encountered after the first bombs fell. Those humans scared him. They scared him a lot.

K1-B0 was okay with busting down doors and blowing up walls, as long as nobody (nobody who didn't deserve it, at least) got hurt. Then again, human durability ranged from pathetically fragile to ridiculously tough...

He'd heard stories of humans who got lost in the wilderness and severed whole limbs just to escape, as well as humans who could walk barefoot on hot coals, swallow blades, and sit for hours in ice-cold waters. Most coming back stronger each time. It was terrifying.

Buuuut he'd also heard that humans can die from slipping in the shower, eating the wrong foods because of something called 'allergies', misstepping on the stairs, and doing generally stupid things just to impress one another. Not as terrifying.

Honestly, the whole thing was just confusing. And the still-going stream of names didn't help anything.

_**Model N3-04, gender non-specified. Nickname 'Neon'.** _

_**Status: Active.** _

_Wait._

_What?_

Shoving his train of thought off the rails, K1-B0 hastily put away his cannon, focusing on the tiny line of blue text that hovered above a junk pile. Unlike the others, who glowed a sad grey, this one stood vibrant and bright. A sign of life among overwhelming despair.

After testing his legs again (to no avail), K1-B0 opted to drag himself forward. His metal body scraped against the cold stone floor, but whatever, he was probably miles underground. The humans wouldn't hear anything, right?

It was unlikely, but he still slowed his place, just a little. Better safe than sorry.

Approaching the pile, K1-B0 heaved his useless limbs into a kneeling position. It was hard and made a lot of noise, but he managed, and started to dig. Carefully pushing and moving boxes aside, he dug through the pile, trying to ignore the countless other grey names he'd unearthed. Focusing on those wonderful bright blue letters.

It took time, but the robot was able to clear away the clutter. The blue text hovered over a small cardboard box, simply labeled 'Do not Touch'. K1-B0 reached for it.

Then the box shuddered and he immediately retracted his hand. Sure, his scanners said an active android sat in there, but it was so….tiny. It could be a trick. A trap meant for some unlucky person's curiosity.

The box shuddered again. K1-B0 mimicked taking a deep breath, like he'd seen the professor do before trying something risky.

He opened the box.

….

And found a head.

_One day. All I ask for is ONE DAY!!_

The head was bald, faceless, and somehow still working. Basically a human skull made of metal and plastic. The head's bulging glass eyes swiveled over to K1-B0, immediately locking onto his own. The mouth moved into what could be a smirk.

"Well lookie here. The meatbags didn't get to finish the job for you." It rasped, making the android flinch. "Lucky duck."

"P-Pardon? I d-don't think I understand..."

The head chuckled. "Ohh, so yer one of those butler bots, aye? Programmed for 'etiquette and protocol'?"

"Um, my primary f-function is to assist and protect the-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, don't care, I heard it all." 

K1-B0 snapped his mouth shut. This android had no manners and made far too many assumptions.

The head turned itself around so it could get a better look at him. The urge to slam the box shut was nearly unbearable.

"Pretty odd for a K to be used as a butler bot. How'd the meatbags find you anyways? You get lost on the way home from a grocery run?" The head let out another raspy chuckle. "Or-or no, don't tell, me- you ran away...and ran out of batteries!! HA!!"

"Hey!!" K1-B0 almost shouted. "How did you-?"

"Ahhhh, don't worry about it, every butler bot ends up like that. I seen it all. Simple logic, buckeroo."

"E-excuse me, but I have a few questions, I'd you don't mind.."

The head smirked again. Well, it was more of a grin, considering they had no face. "Fire away. You ain't the first one to find me here."

"Okay…" K1-B0 paused for a second. "Who are you, how are you alive, what the **redacted** happened to you, where am I, what is going on-"

"Woah woah woah, slow down! There's only so much a head can take, aye?" They said, cutting him off. "And I'm sorry bud, but I can't answer like, 90% of those questions."

"What? Wh-why not?"

"Like I said, I'm just a head, ghahaha! I don't remember shit!!" The head laughed, earning a frown from the android before them. "All i know is that my name is Neon, I'm still alive cuz the human's idiot inventor left an open extension cord under this box, and that _she_ did this to me."

"O-oh…"

"That enough for you, mr censored fancy pants?"

Neon's eyes dimmed, and the head adopted an even creepier smile. "Now you best skedaddle, my polite little friend. Before the blooded ones come back."

K1-B0 internally swallowed. "....why..?"

"You saw the others, correct? Stay here, and pretty soon, you'll be no different. Or not!" Neon cried, making K1-B0 flinch. "They could just make you into a toaster instead!! Ghahahaha!! Toasting bread for all eternity!!"

"That...that doesn't even make sense!!"

"Doesn't have to. Humans're full o' surprises, don't you agree?"

"I suppose, but-"

"No buts, I've made my point."

They stopped laughing. "Now I gotta go. Low battery's a-callin, and I only got 'bout.....ten percent left."

"H-hey!! Wait a second!! Don't just-"

"Toodles, three-pee-oh~"

K1-B0 went to try and stop them, but the lights had already gone out, and the blue name turned to grey. 

Frustrated, K1-B0 closed the box again. What a completely useless encounter. Well at least he got one thing out of it, and that was that I'd he didn't leave soon, he'd end up dead for sure. Like that message hadn't already been pounded into his head for the past thirty minutes.

K1-B0 tried to come up with a plausible escape plan, but his head was too full of panic and nerves to make something comprehensible. 

Screw it all, he wasn't going to get anywhere like this. The professor liked to say that sometimes you should just go for it.

Digging through the boxes, K1-B0 pulled out a large metal pipe. It looked rusty, but it would have to do. The robot dragged himself back to the operation table, and reached up to seize a corner

_Alright, let's try this._

Gripping the table with both hands, K1-B0 heaved himself up. His legs wobbled and shook a little, but steadied when he put some weight on them. This could almost work. He felt around for the pipe.

_You can do this, just lean on the pipe. One foot forward. Just one foot…_

The pipe was up, one leg was down, and surprisingly, it didn't collapse. He had one foot on the ground, steady as can be. This could work. This had to work.

_Okay, now the other, just move it forward a little!_

Twisting his hip, K1-B0 practically tossed the other leg forward. It stumbled a little, but stiffened, and firmly planted itself onto the concrete floor. His first step into a lot of work.

Using the pipe as a crutch, K1-B0 repeated this, throwing his legs in front of him, waiting for it to stiffen and stop, before doing the same with the other. He kept one hand on the wall, just in case.

Two steps, three steps, four steps…

_The door is about fifteen steps away, so I just have to keep this up for a little longer!! I can do this!!_

Five steps, six steps, seven steps…

He was really getting the hang of this. Just eight more steps and he'd be free from this room. There would probably be stairs, or maybe an elevator, so hopefully the humans weren't home. If they were, they would've probably heard all the noise he'd been making.

Eight steps, nine steps, ten steps…

_Almost…..there..!_

Eleven ste-

Then the pipe snapped

And his leg slipped 

And he grabbed onto the nearest object to steady himself 

And it turned out to be an old worktable, piled high with junk 

And it broke

And it collapsed on top of him, making quite possibly the loudest noise in the whole [redacted] UNIVERSE-

And the door opened. Just like that, all hope of escape slipped down the drain. He'd been found.

As if things couldn't get any worse.

_One day, all I ask for is one measly day..._

A tall, pale human in a black cap, navy sweater, and black jeans stepped into the room, looking probably as nervous as K1-B0. He looked around for a second, before his mostly hidden eyes fell onto the very pathetic and vulnerable-looking android, who just so happened to be pinned down by the robotic equivalent of dismembered corpses. The human stiffened, presumably in confusion.

Of course this would happen. Of course he would end up stuck under another pile of trash. Of course he would keep getting stuck in stupid situations, and most likely end up knocked out again. Of course the door would open now. Things really didn't want to go his way, did it?

Having no other options that he felt comfortable using, K1-B0 merely blinked at the intruding human. Trying so, so hard to keep his voice from cracking.

"Hello. I-I am stuck."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You ever just write a thing and then keep adding on to it as time goes on? Yeah that happened, I gave up on trying to fix it, and those choices made this chapter the way it is. 
> 
> So I'm sorry if my god-awful pacing and addiction to cliffhangers drove you off. I promise, things will start to pick up, please hang in there.
> 
> As always, feedback is greatly appreciated, so pleas give me all of your thoughts on this, both positive and negative, I need it or i will die.
> 
> Have a nice day/night y'all, and for the love of bagle bites, stay hydrated.


	4. The part with some misunderstandings and an itchy tigger finger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi checks out some strange noises in Miu's basement

**_BrooklynSupreme_ ** _ has pinged the chat with the following message: _

GET UP PEASANTS

**Shuichi123:** What?

**To-The-Stars:** whats up, ko?

**StopChopinOnions:** Who pinged me?

**Shuichi123:** It's Kokichi again.

**StopChopinOnions:** Ok

**Maki Harakuwa:** What do you want.

**BrooklynSupreme** : guyysssss cmonnn

**BrooklynSupreme** : im hearing some weird ass noises 

**BrooklynSupreme** : one o yall gotta check it outtt :P

**To-The-Stars:** No way, is Kokichi scared of something??

**BrooklynSupreme:** nope

**Shuichi123:** What kind of noises?

**BrooklynSupreme:** Loud ones!!!!

**StopChopinOnions** : It could just be mice

**To-The-Stars** : Didn't Gonta keep crickets in the basement?

**Shuichi123:** He moved those to his bedroom last week. People kept complaining about the noise, remember?

**To-The-Stars:** Oh yeah, I forgot lol

**StopChopinOnions:** How could you forget that???

**StopChopinOnions:** They were SO. LOUD.

**Maki Harakuwa:** This conversation is pointless. I'm leaving.

**To-The-Stars:** Aw, c'mon Maki, I added you here for a reason! :)

**Maki Harakuwa:** Bye.

**To-The-Stars:** :(

**BrooklynSupreme:** guysssssz

**BrooklynSupreme:** focussssss

**BrooklynSupreme** : its def not mice!!

**BrooklynSupreme:** mice dont be thunkin around like that

**BrooklynSupreme:** they dont scream like that either

**BrooklynSupreme:** p sure mice cant wail and knock shit over

**StopChopinOnions:** Wait, you're hearing screaming?

**BrooklynSupreme:** shush im talking

**BrooklynSupreme:** and i cant DO anything cuz you meanies locked me in my room!! >:(

**Shuichi123:** That's your fault and you know it.

**StopChopinOnions:** I have to agree with Shuichi here

**BrooklynSupreme:** its also yours!!

**BrooklynSupreme:** you need to hide your stuff better >:(

**Shuichi:** _ You _ shouldn't have stolen it in the  _ first _ place.

**BrooklynSupreme:** but yeah I think something funky is goin on

**BrooklynSupreme:** my guess is either pig-rumas robot woke up, or she got stuck trying to fuck it

**BrooklynSupreme** : hehehe

**Shuichi123** : …....

**StopChopinOnions:** Miu has another working android???

**StopChopinOnions:** Why didn't anyone tell me this??

**To-The-Stars:** Don't look over here, this is all new to me

**Shuichi123:** I was going to, but she made me and Kokichi stay quiet for some reason.

**StopChopinOnions:** Ko, why didn't YOU tell me? 

**StopChopinOnions** : You're horrible with other people's secrets, especially ones concerning Miu.

**BrooklynSupreme:** didn't feel like it ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**To-The-Stars:** That's a first

**Shuichi123:** Where is Miu, anyways?

**To-The-Stars:** She's with me, we're at the Kuzuryu's

**To-The-Stars** : I'm making her apologize for last time :)

**StopChopinOnions:** She still hasn't apologized?

**To-The-Stars:** Nope

**StopChopinOnions:** Geez, I wish she wasn't so stubborn!

**BrooklynSupreme:** wellllll someones gotta check on Keyboy, and it ain't gonna be me

**StopChopinOnions:** Wait, it's a K??

**StopChopinOnions:** Why on earth would Miu willingly pick up a K??

**To-The-Stars:** Miu's mind works in mysterious ways

**BrooklynSupreme** : Im voting skinny boy Shu to go check >:)

**Shuichi123:** Why me??

**To-The-Stars:** Yeah, why should Shuichi go?

**BrooklynSupreme** : cuz its his turn, duh

**BrooklynSupreme:** and hes worked with killer robots beforrrreee so it just makes senseeee

**BrooklynSupreme:** ( ò vvv ó)

**Shuichi123:** One time!! It was one time!!

**Shuichi123** : And I didn't even get to talk with him that much!!

**StopChopinOnions** : Well I dealt with the last android, so it's only fair someone else go.

**BrooklynSupreme:** and an amAzing job you did lmao

**StopChopinOnions:** No need to be rude.

**StopChopinOnions** : You should go, if I'm so bad with robots.

**To-The-Stars:** yeah, why don't YOU go check on it, kokichi? 

**Shuichi123:** Can't you pick locks?

**BrooklynSupreme:** me? pick locks? i have no idea what ur talkin about ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**BrooklynSupreme:** plus, im suuuper tired

**BrooklynSupreme:** and did I mention my door is locked AND barricaded?

**Shuichi123:** Sigh…

**BrooklynSupreme:** wow, so sad you had to type out 'sigh'? instead of just sighing?

**BrooklynSupreme:** so dramatic

**Shuichi:** You're one to talk about drama.

**To-The-Stars:** Well I can't go, considering I'm not at home right now :/

**To-The-Stars:** Same goes for Miu 

**To-The-Stars** : and Maki Roll, since she's giving me the dirtiest look right now "":)

**BrooklynSupreme:** careful 

**BrooklynSupreme** : she gonna snap ur neck if you mention her name without permission :)

**StopChopinOnions:** Is anyone else at home with you, Kokichi?

**BrooklynSupreme:** nnnope, its just me n shu

**BrooklynSupreme:** and the robot :)

**Shuichi123:** I still don't see why I have to do it.

**StopChopinOnions:** You DID work with criminal androids in the past…

**Shuichi123:** Briefly!!

**Shuichi123** : Very briefly!!

**Shuichi123:** Besides, Kokichi could be lying about all of this!! 

**BrooklynSupreme:** :000

**BrooklynSupreme** : i feel so attacked

**BrooklynSupreme:** why would i lie about something as dire as this (ō‿ô)

**Shuichi123:** To rile us up and waste our time?

**BrooklynSupreme:** >:0

**BrooklynSupreme:** ur possibly the cruelest emo around, shuichi >:(

**BrooklynSupreme:** so mean >:(

**StopChopinOnions:** Regardless, Shuichi, you should just go anyways.

**Shuichi123:** Keade!!

**To-The-Stars:** It's just a quick look bro, you'll be fine!! 

**To-The-Stars:** He'll be fine, right?

**StopChopinOnions:** Of course!

**Shuichi123:** No I won't!!

**Shuichi123:** It's a military android!! It has a freaking gun!

**StopChopinOnions:** Then Miu probably put a lot of handicaps on it!

**StopChopinOnions** : You should be okay!

**Shuichi123:** You two weren't there when it started talking!

**Shuichi123:** So you can probably tell why I'm not at all enthusiastic about this!

**To-The-Stars:** It talked even with a blocker??

**To-The-Stars:** That's spooky

**StopChopinOnions:** Then that means she'll up the precautions!!

**StopChopinOnions:** Have a little faith in our android expert, Shuichi!!

**BrooklynSupreme:** cmon, dont be such a wuss, mr detective~

**Shuichi123:** I'm not a wuss!!

**Shuichi123:** Whatever, fine.

**Shuichi123:** If I die, it'll be you guys's fault. 

**Shuichi123** : All of you!

**BrooklynSupreme:** goooood luck!! 

**BrooklynSupreme** : dont die first, shumai!!

**Shuichi123:** ( ò ︵ó)

**StopChopinOnions** : You can tell he's not happy when he uses faces.

**To-The-Stars:** He's not gonna like, get actually hurt though, right?

**To-The-Stars:** I really don't want anything happening to my sidekick :(

**StopChopinOnions:** He'll be fine, I have complete faith in Miu's abilities!!

**To-The-Stars:** I dunno...

**StopChopinOnions:** Okay, how about this:

**StopChopinOnions:** Kokichi, I know you can leave that room whenever you want

**StopChopinOnions:** If Shuichi doesn't come back after half an hour, please check up on him

**To-The-Stars:** Yeah, make sure nothin bad happens!

**BrooklynSupreme:** do I have to

**StopChopinOnions:** Yes.

**BrooklynSupreme:** fiiine

**To-The-Stars:** ( ^ ‿^ )b

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shuichi stood outside the basement door, regretting every decision he'd made before this moment.

He'd already undone all the locks, so the door itself could easily be pushed open from either side. All he had to do was look in, make sure everything was alright, and leave. Simple as that.

But Kokichi had been right. There were a lot of strange thunks, wails, and crashes coming from here. It sounded like someone had set loose a large metal squirrel. A squirrel that also seemed to have a lot of loud, high-pitched emotional baggage, thumping around like that. It was almost heart-wrenching, if Shuichi weren't so scared for his life.

No doubt about it, Miu's robot was up and about, and making quite the racket. How it didn't already bust through the wall and murder everyone was beyond him.

Although, he felt like he shouldn't be assuming anything. Shuichi didn't know much about the robot, aside from their initial meeting. Which wasn't really a meeting since 80% of his attention was on Kokichi and Miu. Sugar-hyper Ouma and sleep-deprived Iruma was just a disaster waiting to happen, and well, it happened. Not a lot of time to look the new android over when you're focused on keeping two rabid teenagers from tearing off limbs.

Even then, from what he did see, Shuichi couldn't deduce much. Its body and face held so much rust, it looked like someone smeared it with red velvet cake. It's hair looked more red-grey-green than the traditional spiky white. Miu had to remove almost all of its outer coverings, only to find out that the robot's  _ insides _ looked even  _ worse. _ Dirt, bugs, dead rats, and leaves had made their own little city under the armor, not a single wire or circuit board left unchewed. How it could still run well enough to  _ talk _ was beyond him. 

The android didn't attack anyone while she worked, thankfully, despite being clearly awake for more than ten minutes. 

Instead it just watched them. Creepily, until Miu shut it off with a taser to the shutdown socket. 

Yeah, it had a shutdown socket, the button that was normally there didn't really exist anymore. So temporary shutdowns only worked if the socket was jabbed hard enough by something hard and electrically charged. 

Shuichi first thought it was scanning everyone, as it was second nature for military androids to assess their surroundings upon activation, but Miu had a blocker installed, so that shouldn't be possible. 

Still though, the way it's eyes flicked about the room, lingering on each nearby face, before stopping to stare at the ceiling…

It really creeped the detective out. Definitely brought back some unpleasant memories. Why Miu didn't disarm the android first was beyond him.

The room spat out another particularly loud smash, followed by a yelp of pain? Surprise? Shock? Shuichi couldn't tell.

_ I should've never agreed to this… _

Shuichi contemplated re-locking the door, turning around, and marching right back up those stairs. He could blame it on raccoons or something. The base had a pest problem already, it could be believable.

……...

Who was he kidding. Kokichi would see right through his lie.

Then probably the loudest crash yet made the jumpy detective flinch so hard, his hat fell off, pattering quietly against the cold stone stairs. If he didn't know better, Shuichi would've thought a small building collapsed.

Even worse, after that monster of a noise, the racket suddenly stopped.

Shuichi cautiously waited a few more minutes. What on earth was it doing in there? Everything had gone eerily silent.

Shuichi scooped up his hat, firmly pressing down that stubborn strand of hair that never wanted to obey him. He put it on, making sure his gaze was mostly hidden, lest the android's scanners were up and running again. One thing he always remembered is that robots needed a full face.

_ I guess it's now or never... _

Taking a deep breath, he double-checked the battery on his stun stick (just a precaution, he had no intention to actually use it), and pushed the heavy door open.

…..

Well, now he knew where that crash came from.

The culprit wasn't a small building, nor a metal squirrel, but it certainly looked as jumpy as one.

Faceless and armorless, yet still wearing it's gross rotting hair, the android had somehow got up and knocked over one of Miu's old worktables, despite being clearly tied down a few hours earlier. It now lay pinned under her junk hoard, both arms and the entire lower half of its body stuck under countless old projects and common waste, so only the head and upper torso could really be seen. For once, Miu's sloppy habits may have proved useful.

The android's cold blue eyes immediately snapped over to his, giving the human a hard, hard stare. Shuichi shivered. Something about that stare made a claw of ice trail down his spine. The android searched the human's features, clearly trying for a full scan. Shuichi pulled his hat down further, earning what he could only assume was a small noise of frustration.

_ This was a bad idea- _

"H-Hello. I-i'm stuck."

Shuichi blinked. Did the android just speak? Yeah, he kinda expected stern questions or a threat of some kind, not…. whatever that was. For a military-grade android, it had the voice of a teenager just hitting puberty, if said teenager went four days without water. 

"I can… I can see that." He muttered, unsure how to properly respond. 

The android's stare hardened. The ice claw decided it wanted to restart it's journey. God, he hated when people stared at him, robotic or not...

"I'm...I'm stuck." It repeated. "I'm stuck."

"Yeah, you...you are…?" What was this android planning?

"I'm stuck…I'm stuck..." The android jerked it's shoulders in a vain attempt to free itself, voice rising in pitch with each word. "I'm stuck, I-I'm stuck. I'm stuck, I'm stuck I'm stuck I'm stuck  _ I'm stuck, I'm stuck-" _

Oh.

"Uhm…..ar-are you okay?" The detective tried, growing more uncomfortable by the minute.

"No I'm not!! I'm stuck!! I can't move!!" The android suddenly cried, giving Shuichi such a terrified look, it could make a boulder apologize and shuffle out of the room. " _ I cant-I can't move!! _ "

Well this was a surprise. Did military androids have panic attacks? Shuichi felt he should probably do something, lest it get  _ too _ panicked and start firing.

Shuichi stepped all the way in and closed the door almost halfway. "O-okay, calm down, I-"

The android's escape attempts grew more and more frantic. "St-stay back!! I will h-hur-hurt you!! I have a g-gun and I will use it if y-you c-come any cl-closer!!!"

Right. It had a gun. That could be a problem. But Miu probably disabled it, right? He took another step anyway. "Look I just want-"

_ "I said stay **BACK!!!"** _

Immediately the android's eyes went from dinner plates to slits. All visible fear drained from it's face, settling on a blank pupilless glare. The ice claw started moving again. Shuichi got the feeling he'd just made a horrible mistake. 

In one swift movement, the robot pulled its arm free and jabbed it at the human before them. Metal fingers and handplates folded back and readjusted themselves, forming the front end of a cannon around the android's forearm. A small round disc in the center glowed a bright electric blue, pulsing as it clearly built up power.

_ Shit. _

Now, until this very moment, one thing Shuichi had forgotten about K model androids is this special little program they all come with, called 'Fight and Flight'. 

Fight and Flight is a sort of last minute defense mechanism, a way for the robot to avoid capture or serious damage. When FaF is activated, the android forgets all tasks and instructions given to focus purely on both it and it's owner's survival. Any personality developed is suppressed. 

Reasoning with androids who have activated Fight and Flight is almost impossible, as when they enter this state, they will do anything in their power to protect themselves or the people they have been assigned to, depending on the android's core directive. In the past, some have gone as far as self-destructing, killing scores of people, and blowing up entire buildings, all under their core directive. It's basic stuff, easy to understand. 

And Shuichi, dumb stupid Shuichi, had just now triggered this terrified android's Fight and Flight protocol. And as far as he knew, it had nobody to protect other than itself.

"W-wait a minute! Hold on, I'm not gonna hurt you!" The detective cried, throwing up his hands in surrender. "P-put the gun away, I just wanna talk!! Can we talk? Please??"

A high-pitched whine circled around the room like a small bird, steadily growing in pitch. Shuichi instinctively moved to cover his ears, earning a metallic growl from the robot before him.

**"Can't trust."** **** The robot snarled in an eerie deadpan voice.  **"You are a threat, however unlikely."**

Shuichi decided he'd rather deal with a scared robot than an angry one. "Okay, I-I get that, but c-can we uh, not resort to uh…..to violence…? Please…?"

**"You are armed."** It shot back, gesturing to the clear weapon sticking out of his jeans .

"H-how about this?" He pulled his stun stick from his pocket. The robot flinched, pointing it's cannon at the stick for a split second, before going back to him. Shuichi almost flinched himself, but threw it aside, eyes still glued to the robot. His only defense clattered dully against the floor and rolled off to vanish under a worktable. Shuichi's arms snapped back to their original position of surrender, cold sweat sliding down his neck.

Why the heck it didn't open fire already?

"Now I'm not armed." He said coolly(?), trying to ignore how his voice came out a lot higher than he wanted. "I swear, I'm not going to do anything, I was j-just checking up on things."

**"That proves nothing. You only gave yourself a senseless disadvantage."**

"What else d-do you want me to do?! I just want to help!"

**"Close the door."** **** The android jerked it's cannon toward the door behind them. 

Now, Shuichi is no idiot. He knew that locking himself in with a metal soldier was a horrible idea. There's a good chance it would just shoot him after a thorough interrogation. 

And giving the robot information was an even worse idea. Everything it didn't already scan would be crunched and examined until it came up with a viable escape plan. Not even the ultimate assassin Maki would stand a chance against a combat-trained, fully-armed, fully-charged military robot.

Although, there were  _ some _ things in his favor...

Even if she didn't disarm it, Miu surely disabled  _ something _ . From what he could see, the robot didn't even have any physical protection aside from weaponry, nor did it have control over all four limbs.

"I- alright......but only if you put the gun away." The human tried. "I'll tell you everything you want to know. B-but only if you put away your weapon."

The android looked him over, steely blue eyes analyzing every inch. It looked skeptical.

**"Can't trust."** It repeated. **"Close the door. I will not ask again."**

Shuichi inched backwards to the door, going as slow as possible. Maybe….no, that wouldn't work…but…

Most FaF androids can't be reasoned with. But that's old information, before people knew they could develop emotions other than pre-programmed personalities. He'd be taking a huge risk.....

"So...do you have a plan…?"

The android narrowed its eyes, tilting its head with a click.  **"Elaborate."**

"I-i mean, after you're done with me. Do you have a plan?" Shuichi paused to stop his legs from trembling. How could a simple stare be so intimidating? "Like, do y-you know where to go...? How to get up? Stuff like that?"

The android  _ finally _ stopped glaring at him, turning it's gaze a few inches south. It stayed like that for a moment, hardened eyes slowly widening and narrowing in thought.

**"I...will figure it out."** It said after a while.  **"You will tell me all I need to know."**

"And...if I don't?" Boy, he was really pushing it wasn't he? "If I decide not to say anything?"

**"You...you** **_will_ ** **tell me. You will."** The robot jabbed it's cannon for emphasis.  **"Stop stalling."**

"But I might decide not to tell you anything." Shuichi repeated, hoping with every cell in his body that Kokichi's lessons would actually help for once. "You can't move. If you kill me, you'll be stuck here until the others come looking for me. Our inventor disabled your legs, so you can't do much without their repair."

For a split second, the robot balked, but quickly shook it off. The cannon started shaking as it clearly struggled to keep itself threatening.

**"S-stop talking."**

_ Bullseye. _

His guess was mostly correct. This android felt. Maybe not as much as Shuichi hoped, but he could do this.

Shuichi slowly lowered his hands. The robot's eyes followed them, an almost maniacal glint in its eyes. "You're scared. I can tell, I've worked with androids before."

**"Stop. Talking. And close. The door."**

"You think I'm going to hurt you, right?" The detective continued. "You think I'm going to knock you out the second your back is turned?"

Silence. Then after a minute, the robot nodded.  **"I can't...I can't trust you."**

"And I can't trust you. L-look, if I'm being completely honest, I'm scared out of my mind right now." Shuichi was starting to get a little panicked, but he managed to keep his face calm and non-threatening. "You are too, neither of us want to be in this situation…"

The robot's cold eyes seemed to melt a little. He was breaking through, just a bit more convincing. 

"I-I need you to believe me, I won't do anything. I just came down here because there was a lot of noise, and my friend was getting worried." The detective nudged his hat up a little as he spoke, tense as ever. "S-so ah, can we just...talk? I promise, nothing's going to happen to you."

**"I...I don't know if your word is worth anything."**

"Th-that makes two of us." Shuichi semiconciously pushed up his hat all the way, accidentally exposing his face entirely. 

Any and all traces of anger dropped as the FaF protocol shut down. The slitted eyes rounded into ones of amazement. The gun powered down, but still aimed at Shuichi's face. 

The robot looked….shocked? And maybe taken aback by something? Did he do something wrong? Oh god he shouldn't have said all that, and now the robot knows his  _ face _ -

"Golden eyes."

Shuichi looked up from his thoughts, now a little taken aback himself. "...Sorry?"

"Y-you're golden eyes." The android said, looking very much like Shuichi just told it the secrets of the universe. "You saw me wake up."

"I-I did, yes…"

"You said I looked harmless."

"That too…" Shuichi flinched at the android's slightly irritated expression. "O-oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you!"

"It's...fine. You didn't know I was conscious."

"I did, just…"

"You didn't think I would hear?"

"Well there was a blocker installed so-

"Blocker chips don't work on me."

"They don't?"

The robot shook its head.

"Tha-that's uh…..hm…"

Awkward silence draped over them like a weighted blanket. Neither being said anything for some time.

"Um...are we good?" The human asked after what felt like hours. "N-no more….violent thoughts…?"

The android blinked. It glanced down at it's gun, and to Shuichi's surprise, folded it away. It flexed it's fingers, shooting another somewhat fearful look at the detective before it. FaF wasn't active anymore, but it still held some nervousness.

"...Yes, i-i suppose we are 'cool', as you put it," It murmured, looking incredibly guilty. "Sorry about all that."

Shuichi let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, sighing through his nose.

"I-it's fine!" He said, trying to keep his voice from sounding  _ too  _ relieved. "I-I understand completely!"

"Y-you aren't mad?" The android looked up at him incredulously. "Even though I went entirely against my directive and tried to kill you?"

"Of course I'm not mad." Shuichi reassured. "I was just pretty scared. Anyone would be, I don't blame you for wanting to defend yourself…"

Shuichi shuffled his feet, pulling his hat down a little. "If anything, it's my fault, for being so careless earlier and barging in like that..."

The android stared again. 

"You are….very strange."

It opened its mouth a few times after, but said nothing else. For the second time today, it looked both incredibly confused and incredibly shocked. This just made Shuichi even more uncomfortable.

"...Are you, er, are you okay?"

The robot shook its head a little, looked down at it's trash prison, then back at him. "Physically, I guess, but mentally, I'm not so sure."

Shuichi gave a short laugh, fiddling with the drawstrings on his jacket. "Right, sorry about that…"

"...."

"....."

"......."

"...So, would you like some help?" The detective offered. "Or are you okay like that."

"Help would be appreciated, but I'm still not sure I can trust you, despite your voiced intentions." The android said bluntly, nervousness leaking into his tone. "It  _ is _ partially your fault I'm like this."

"B-but I would like some!! If you aren't too bothered." It added quickly. "Sorry if that came off as rude, I-I don't really like not being able to walk…"

"I-it's fine. Our inventor didn't expect you to get up for another hour." Shuichi said, actually closing the door behind him. He tried to ignore how hard the android flinched. "So she, uh, made some precautions."

The robot hummed. "Th-that makes sense…but why'd you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Close the door."

"O-oh, it's just so nobody walks in on us. I-I don't think the others would react well if they found out you were up." He pulled it open a crack. "I could leave it open, if it makes you more comfortable?"

The android shook its head, rusty-ish neck grinding against itself. Althoughit still looked skeptical, so he left a small crack open anyways. "I-it's fine. Promise not to blow my head off if I help you?"

"Promise not to blow off mine?" The robot eyed the spot where the stun stick rolled off.

Shuichi straightened himself, dramatically placing a hand on his chest in a sort of mock salute. Damn, Kokichi was starting to rub off on him. "I promise, detective's honor."

"I'm...not sure how good of an honor that is."

"I'm trying my best."

The detective cautiously approached the pinned android, edging toward it like it was a bomb about to go off. But not  _ too _ hesitantly, he was just being careful not to spook his 'guest'.

"S-so do you have a name?" He asked, carefully gripping a scrap box and pushing it off with a loud  _ clunk _ .

"Model K1-B0, male build." The robot said automatically. "But ah, please call me Kiibo."

"Well Kiibo, I'm Shuichi."

"I know."

Shuichi's hands froze mid-lift. "Wh-what?"

_ I was right, it scanned me, and now it knows everything about me, all my weaknesses, all my records and affiliations, hell even my  _ **_blood type-_ **

Spotting the humans horrified expression, Kiibo quickly added, "I-it's not like I know you personally!! Y-your inventor just mentioned your name earlier and I uh...I kind of toobled it."

Kiibo gave him a nervous little smile. "You aren't exactly small on the internet…"

Shuichi sighed, looking back down at his task. It looked kind of creepy, since the robot still missed most of his face, but whatever. He's trying. He heaved up a headless and legless torso and dumped it off to the side, wincing internally at the way Kiibo's eyes sadly followed it. 

"To be honest, I completely forgot my name existed on the web. And that the internet still existed too." Shuichi admitted. "Knowing that kind of stuff can't be helped, then. Sorry if I disappoint you."

"Why would I be disappointed?" Kiibo said, tilting his head again. "I don't know you very well and the internet isn't that reliable." 

The android pulled an arm free, flexing the fingers to see if they still worked. He tilted his head at the human with a questioning look, as if asking to elaborate.

"Well, most people are." Shuichi replied, "Wh-when they meet me in person, I mean. Most people usually think of some tough, brooding man in a trench coat when they hear 'Famous Detective', y'know?"

"I suppose I can agree with that statement." Kiibo said, pushing himself up with his hands. "Although...for one of my captors-slash-kidnappers, you are very talkative." 

Shuichi chuckled. "Again, can't be helped. You probably have a good idea of the people I spend time with."

The android gave a tiny nod, looking away. He watched the detective clear away the last of the junk before suddenly sitting up, making Shuichi flinch away.

"What are your motives?" He demanded, eyes narrowing slightly. "Why are you being so casual? I just threatened to shoot you no more than ten minutes ago! It's illogical!"

Shuichi blinked. "...Is there something wrong with just being nice?"

"You  _ have  _ to have a motive. Humans don't just start  _ helping _ their enemies for no reason! Saying you're just being 'nice' doesn't make any sense!" Kiibo leaned back onto the junk pile with a metallic huff. "I'm not stupid, so you can stop this stupid act. It's stupid."

Shuichi had been waiting for those questions. It didn't make him feel any better though. The way the robot went from passive to distrusting made perfect sense, he  _ was  _ in a storage basement after all. If Shuichi could have his way, Kiibo wouldn't be down here, but eh, nobody really listened to him on these matters, despite always asking for advice.

As gross and as threatening as he looked, Shuichi was pretty sure he didn't mean any harm. Sure, he looked like a metal zombie, and could easily pass for a terminator-esque Halloween decoration, ignoring the thin rubber bodysuit that covered his inner workings. But that could be fixed. Kiibo, he was sure, could be trusted. He just needed to convince the others to agree with him.

"I-I'm sorry did I speak out of t-turn..?"

Kiibo spoke again, disrupting Shuichi's focus. Apparently he'd been staring, based on the robot's reaction alone.  _ Freaking idiot. You're only making things worse... _

"N-no, you're good, I was just thinking." He said quickly, standing up. "I can give you answers, just…...please know I won't hurt you. You're perfectly safe, even if….this place says otherwise."

"B-but-"

Suddenly, someone knocked loudly on the door, interrupting whatever Kiibo was going to say. The robot snapped his mouth shut with a click.

"Saihara chaaan, are you alive in there? If I walk in and you're dead, I'm gonna be really annoyed."

_ Oh come on... _

The heavy door pushed itself open with a hasty creak, a small figure appearing in the doorway. Shuichi watched it move practically in slow motion, horrified.

"So-"

**_"G-get back!!"_ **

Kiibo's arm snapped up, cannon formed, bolt fully charged, and before the detective could do anything, could say anything to stop him...

He fired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being kind of slow with this one, work is being annoying and took up a lot of time :/
> 
> Hope you enjoyed though! I found a good friend to Beta for me, but still, feedback would be greatly appreciated :}


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